You ask whether certain information maintained by the Travis County Sheriff's Office (the
"Sheriff's Office") is subject to public disclosure under Chapter 552 of the Government Code.
Your request was assigned ID# 128281.

The Sheriff's Office received a request for the any and all records of a named individual.
You contend the requested records are excepted from required public disclosure by sections
552.103 and 552.108 of the Government Code. After review of the information you have
submitted, we conclude that the requested information is confidential pursuant to section
552.101.

Section 552.101 of the Government Code protects "information considered to be confidential
by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision," including information
protected by the common-law right of privacy. Industrial Found. v. Texas Indus. Accident
Bd., 540 S.W.2d 668, 683-85 (Tex. 1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 931 (1977).

We note at the outset that to the extent the requestor is asking for any unspecified records
in which the named individual is identified as a "suspect," the requestor, in essence, is asking
that the Sheriff's Office compile that individual's criminal history. Where an individual's
criminal history information has been compiled by a governmental entity, the information
takes on a character that implicates the individual's right to privacy. See United States Dep't
of Justice v. Reporters Comm. for Freedom of the Press, 489 U.S. 749 (1989) (concluding
that federal regulations which limit access to criminal history record information that states
obtain from the federal government or other states recognize privacy interest in such
information). Similarly, open records decisions issued by this office acknowledge this privacy
interest. See Open Records Decision Nos. 616 (1993), 565 (1990). The Sheriff's Office,
therefore, must withhold all compilations of the referenced individuals' criminal histories
pursuant to section 552.101.

We are resolving this matter with an informal letter ruling rather than with a published Open
Records Decision. This ruling is limited to the particular records at issue under the facts
presented to us in this request and should not be relied upon as a previous determination
regarding any other records. If you have questions about this ruling, please contact our
office.